Keeping wedding photos off the Internet

I think one additional tool you can use is to mention the reasons, though not directly. "For privacy and security reasons, the bride and groom politely request that all guests refrain from personal photography tonight, and to not post any images to social media." Merely saying the event is unplugged will leave many guests thinking the moratorium is just because you don't want iPhones in your professional photos, but if they know the reason is more safety-oriented, they may be more inclined to obey. Surely your friends and family will respect your plea for safety.

"Unplugged wedding

We want you to be able to really enjoy our wedding day, feeling truly present and in the moment with us. We've hired an amazing wedding photographer named _________ who will be capturing the way the wedding looks — and we're inviting each of you to sit back, relax, and just enjoy how the wedding feels. We're respectfully asking that everyone consider leaving all cameras and cell phones off. Of course we will happy to share our wedding photos with you afterward!"

http://offbeatbride.com/2011/06/unplugged-wedding-templates

The only problem with the unplugged wedding is that only really covers the ceremony. Most people will respect that. But an unplugged reception? I think it's just wishful thinking. I don't think there is any way to avoid it.

As others have said: don't physically remove people's phones and cameras. We had an unplugged ceremony and everyone respected it (the officiant made the announcement and it was on our website).

For the reception it'll be really tricky, but again ask your DJ/MC to annouce (before dinner!) to respect the couple's wishes and not take photos and emphasize that you don't want your photos posted onto the internet. That's about all you can do. If you end up seeing your photo posted online you'll just have to ask the poster to remove it.

I actually just went to a wedding where the officant announced it asking they hold off on posting pictures to facebook until the reception starts. He did it really well but I like what SB821 said state it's for privacy reasons and you have a professional photographer please don't take photos of the bride and groom. I work in a field where privacy is important, so I get where you're coming from I think most people will respect that, and if they don't maybe they shouldn't be there..... Harsh I know but something to think about. To be honest most cellphone pictures I've taken at weddings suck anyway haha.

So I've thought of creating the device that you bring up. Unfortunately, it's not legal to radiate such a signal. lol

I would just let them know on your invite or website. I would not be giving up my phone at the door unless I was walking into heaven.

I agree with Celia, have your officiant announce it before your ceremony starts. There's no need in eloping if you don't want to. We should all be granted the right to have the ceremony we want on our own terms, especially if it regards your safety! I'm sure your guests are quite understanding given that they will be there for you, anyway.

You can also post it on your website.

@Janeen, damn that job of yours. Who cares if it's not legal?!

In addition to what people have said, you hopefully already have your Facebook set for this, but if not, make sure it's set so people cannot tag you in photos.

Ultimately though, you cannot control your guests or tell what to do or not do. Someone will still take a picture during an unplugged ceremony. Be prepared for it to happen, then ask the poster politely to remove the photo or crop you/your FI out of it. When you are in public, anyone can take a picture of you.

For reception: let them take pictures and personally tell them don't post it.. i do that from time to time... u can also filter tag on facebook and people have to wait for your approval to tag u...

but hey, you are a bride: put a straight face on and say... please don't post it on social media... people will understand..

I went to a party once where there were some very public figures in attendance and there was a strict no phone policy mentioned in the invite. no one had a problem handing over their phones on the way in....those who wanted to keep their phones in their pockets were given rules to only use their phones outside the venue or risk getting kicked out. no one complained and everyone complied with no issue whatsoever. just put it on the invite to give a heads up.

We're the same way, both private people with as few pics of us floating around online as we can manage. We also have a bunch of really good "hobby photographers" in our families and still want them to be able to take their pictures. The solution we've come up with is to first of all, notify everyone that although picture taking is welcome, please refrain from posting them on social media via our wedding website & word of mouth. Since people still like to share photos though, we're going to have a laptop station set up (we're out in the middle of the woods so no wifi ;3) with memory card docks so that we can essentially 'pool' all the photos people take throughout the day and have an e-mail list of those who want photos. No social media sharing required.

My DD had an unplugged WEDDING last Summer so we could prevent the sea of ipads and phones being captured in the pro pics (and to keep a couple of aunts out of the aisle trying to take their pics while the bride is processing).

The reception was not unplugged. Here are a couple of thoughts I am going to share with you: 1. No way no how is anyone taking my phone. Not happening. I am fully capable of complying with the wishes of the happy couple, but they aren't taking my phone. Heck, I am THRILLED to comply with an unplugged wedding and even not taking pics of the happy couple if that is what they want, but that restriction only goes for taking pictures of the happy couple. After 2 of my own weddings and 4 married DDs', I am a really compliant, polite guest!

Reception pictures: This is a time when our family (I married into a ginormous Catholic family - DH is oldest of 7 kids and everyone has married kids, etc...) We take lots of family pictures at receptions. Now, I don't mind at all if you don't want me to take your picture but I would be quite unhappy if you said I couldn't take pictures within my own family/friends.

I really think the best thing you can do is maybe put something in your program asking guests to refrain from taking any pictures of the two of you, and if by some chance they do, to emphatically ask they not post them to any social media.

I wish you the best of luck in this but something tells me it is going to be difficult to enforce. What will you guys do if someone takes your picture? You can't kick people out so you really need to discuss how you will handle that.

I've done a LOT of unplugged ceremonies (and I love them) but the reception is a little trickier; at the ceremony, there is one focus and it's a sacred experience (even if it's non religious). People are kind of used to that. The reception is the party; there are 40 things going on at any given time and people want to take photos of their friends.

I'm ancient; I hate this concept that our experience is somehow only real if we've taken a phone photo of it. I turn mine off (for obvious reasons) or leave it in the car though my ceremonies and receptions, and it's almost like taking a vacation....

To be fair, I do video my son's piano recitals and the like because his grandparents are out of town and I want them to be as involved as possible in his life. So I think that the innovation is great. But other times, I agree, it's intrusive. I, personally, don't mind if people take pictures during my ceremony, but they can't be flash because of the dolphin tank.

Janeen, I was totally thinking you or your FH could invent that signal scrambling device!

I would also freak out if someone wanted to take my phone. No way. I am capable of being polite and don't want to leave a $600 phone with anyone. The unplugged ceremony will definitely be the way to go for you. Like everyone else said, you won't really be able to keep guests from taking pictures at the reception. Perhaps your DJ could announce that you prefer pictures not be posted to social media.

Your DJ could totally make it into a joke too!

"Due to Mr and Mrs X's roles in the spy world, they prefer that none of the pictures of the two of them be placed on social media..."

I think about it all the time, no joke. Like this device activates as soon as a car is turned on and whatever. In theory, if we were to go to wi-fi everywhere, rather than cell, it would be possible to do, but you can't really hack into cellular--only block it.

Have your cute flower girl or ring bearer come down the aisle a couple times before the ceremony with a sign saying no pictures please! People can't be that irritated by it. That's what I'm doing. I don't mind others taking pictures of the reception but the ceremony is my private personal moment and I feel that people don't need pictures of it. If they want some, well I hired a photographer so let me get some for you from her.

Some great ideas here. I do promise I had already vetoed the collecting of cell phone, I only made the comment to show how serious my other half is and they would not care about insulting people or not, so thats why I steped in. So no worries there will be cell phones for those who want to bring them an use them.

I dont mind them being taken of us but I just want to avoid them getting on the internet, even my other half says people can take all the photos they want for their personal viewing but no sharing on the internet.

I like the idea of setting up a place for people to leave them and share them without the internet, I have a family member very anxious to help whos across the country so not easy to find something for them to help with, and happens to be great tech wise. I have just found the thing they can do to help , as I am not tech savy at all.

Thanks for all the great ideas suggestions and even the funny things and I promise all will keep cell phones and I dont intend to insul family and friends, It is my weding but I also want everyone to enjoy!

You can put signs at the ceremony space, in your program and on your website that you are having an unplugged wedding. Look on pinterest or etsy for wording suggestions. You can also have your officiant say something before the ceremony begins. That being said, you can't dictate or control your guests behavior and most likely they will still post pictures.